What, Like It’s Hard? is the digital initiative and podcast that celebrates and explores the academic study of popular music. Conferences can be expensive to attend, especially for students, so this platform allows for a digital space to be created for students to discuss and share their research topics and interests while building a digital network of like-minded people. The podcast opens with a keynote series from professors in different faculties, from different universities around the world. The podcast is available for streaming over Spotify, ApplePodcasts, Anchor, or wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Emily McConkey is a graduate student in English at the University of Ottawa. Over the last two years, she has served as the student researcher for the...
Kevin Farrell is Associate Professor of English at Radford University, where he teaches courses in both composition and literature. His research inter...
Alan Parkes is a PhD student in US history at the University of Delaware. He studies the impact of neo-liberalization on late-twentieth-century youth ...
Manuel Garcia Orozco is a GRAMMY® and Latin GRAMMY®-award winner who has dedicated his career to producing musical documents that preserve cultures in...
Dr Ben Screech is a Lecturer in English and Education at the University of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham, UK. His research specializes primarily on YA...
Glenn Fosbraey is the Head of English, Creative Writing, and American Studies at The University of Winchester where he specialises in the academic stu...
Dr. Sophie Stévance (PhD) and Dr. Serge Lacasse (PhD) are full professors of musicology at Laval University (Quebec City). Dr. Stévance is an athlete,...
With a wealth of knowledge in playing and teaching traditional accordion music, Karen Tweed shares her experience and thoughts on traditional music an...
Barnabas Smith is an Australian musician, teacher, and independent researcher. He holds a PhD from the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Ad...
Diego Pani is the manager of the musical patrimony of the Istituto Superiore Regionale Etnografico (ISRE) and a Ph.D. candidate in Ethnomusicology at ...